Ishmael Smith's pull-up jumper from about 17 feet out with 1.3 seconds remaining in overtime gave ninth-seeded Wake Forest an 81-80 win over No. 8 seed Texas in the first round of the NCAA tournament Thursday night.
The Demon Deacons (20-10) twice blew double-digit leads in
regulation, but in overtime they rallied from a 76-68 deficit. They
still trailed by four in the final minute, but a 3-pointer by Ari
Stewart with 15.9 seconds left made it 80-79.
Gary Johnson then missed two free throws for Texas, giving Smith
one more chance.
The Longhorns (24-10) completed a puzzling collapse after being
ranked No. 1 in the country in January.
It was the third game that went to overtime on a wild first day
of NCAA action. Last year, two games went to OT throughout the
entire tournament.